This looks like a good opportunity to ask what's been on my mind for a while. Over the years I've seen Paizo products become less, for lack of a more concise and articulate term, "edgy," particular in regards to sexual content. Why is that?Because Pathfinder has grown more popular and closer to mainstream, and because the world is a different place today than it was ten years ago, and because we're trying harder to make the game approachable to a wider audience, and because mature content is generally better when added to a game by a GM whose players are interested in it rather than being assumed to be the default for ALL players/GMs, and because interactive team-based entertainment needs to be more responsible in what it presents than non-interactive solo entertainment (like movies or video games or TV shows) which you can just turn off if you find something objectionable in it.
Hmmm…
For a more specific example related to the above, have Sorshen and Nocticula gone basically chaste, or do they still indulge so long as it’s safe, sane, and consensual? Likewise, will Arshea and Lymnieris be “cleaned up” the next time they appear, if they ever do again?
The reason I’m asking these questions is that sex positivity, the notion that sex isn’t inherently bad, is a major component of social justice that often gets neglected for the sake of mainstream respectability.
Creative Director
|
Are you excited for Borderlands 3?
Considering I never finished Borderlands 1 or 2 because it got too repetitive and I'm not a big fan of multiplayer games... no, not really.
I might buy it, I guess, but only if it comes out at a time where there's a video game drought for me and I've nothing else to play.
|
Creative Director
|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
For a more specific example related to the above, have Sorshen and Nocticula gone basically chaste, or do they still indulge so long as it’s safe, sane, and consensual? Likewise, will Arshea and Lymnieris be “cleaned up” the next time they appear, if they ever do again?
The reason I’m asking these questions is that sex positivity, the notion that sex isn’t inherently bad, is a major component of social justice that often gets neglected for the sake of mainstream respectability.
Absolutely not chaste. You can be sexually active without being ONLY sexually active. Arshea and Lymnieris are fine as-is. It's not so much the sexuality that we wanted to clean up, but the cliche of "sexy woman has to be evil woman" one.
AKA: I hope we can continue to use sexuality and sex as story elements in the game as needed, in ways that won't scandalize a sizable portion of the public BUT also in ways that fight against portraying sex as evil. This is one of the MAIN reasons why I wanted to adjust the Azlanti virtues of rule, to change "chastity" into "love," for example.
That said, it's never going to be a topic we can tackle head on with the attention it deserves, I fear, since the whole fear//hatred of sex that infects the world (including the United States) means that Paizo is pretty timid about facing stories like this. We'll do what we can where and when we can, though, that's for sure.
Quick question, if you know: do you (or does anyone else) have a good "size estimate" for the ruined city of Drezen?
The map lacks any kind of actual size key, and I was wondering what it's exact dimensions were intended.
My ever-so-rough guesstimate is about a square mile (due to probable-errors, I math'd it out bigger; if you use the castle itself as a scale, it actually maps out surprisingly much smaller), but that makes the size surprisingly small compared to modern distances, and I was wondering if there was an official take on the matter.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Quick question, if you know: do you (or does anyone else) have a good "size estimate" for the ruined city of Drezen?
The map lacks any kind of actual size key, and I was wondering what it's exact dimensions were intended.
My ever-so-rough guesstimate is about a square mile (due to probable-errors, I math'd it out bigger; if you use the castle itself as a scale, it actually maps out surprisingly much smaller), but that makes the size surprisingly small compared to modern distances, and I was wondering if there was an official take on the matter.
Often with city maps scales are more trouble than they're worth. Espeically in cases where gamers have been trained over the course of a few decades of city maps to interpret the shapes in the city as specific buildings and the roads as being accurate—that doesn't always map to the city population. The map of Absalom is a great example of this—for a city of that size and that population, a scale on it would suggest that the city walls are a mile wide or something like that.
For Drezen, you can look at the map of Citadel Drezen and count the squares across. It's 385 feet or so... close enough to round up to say 400 feet. Then go to the city map of Drezen and measure the castle there—looks to me like 3/4 of an inch = 400 feet, so that rounds up to something close to 530 feet per inch on the map itself. Which, when you measure the smallest buildings, puts those buildings at about 15 feet square and the big roads at about 30 feet across. Which feels a little tiny, I guess, but close enough not to annoy me.
Were I designing Drezen from scratch and had this map, I'd then go through and count ALL of the buildings and make an assumption of 5 people per building on average and multiply that by the number of buildings to get a rough population estimate of it. I have no idea if this maps to a number that's even close to what Drezen's population was once upon a time, or for that matter if we've ever said in print what Drezen's population was before it got overrun.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I was wondering how well known certain organizations are outside of their regions. For example, would the average citizen of Sandpoint recognize and respect an Aldori Swordlord, or do they just regard him/her as some mercenary? Does the general populace know of (and fear) Red Mantis assassins or are they oblivious to their existence?
Quick question, if you know: do you (or does anyone else) have a good "size estimate" for the ruined city of Drezen?
The map lacks any kind of actual size key, and I was wondering what it's exact dimensions were intended.
My ever-so-rough guesstimate is about a square mile (due to probable-errors, I math'd it out bigger; if you use the castle itself as a scale, it actually maps out surprisingly much smaller), but that makes the size surprisingly small compared to modern distances, and I was wondering if there was an official take on the matter.
Often with city maps scales are more trouble than they're worth. Espeically in cases where gamers have been trained over the course of a few decades of city maps to interpret the shapes in the city as specific buildings and the roads as being accurate—that doesn't always map to the city population. The map of Absalom is a great example of this—for a city of that size and that population, a scale on it would suggest that the city walls are a mile wide or something like that.
For Drezen, you can look at the map of Citadel Drezen and count the squares across. It's 385 feet or so... close enough to round up to say 400 feet. Then go to the city map of Drezen and measure the castle there—looks to me like 3/4 of an inch = 400 feet, so that rounds up to something close to 530 feet per inch on the map itself. Which, when you measure the smallest buildings, puts those buildings at about 15 feet square and the big roads at about 30 feet across. Which feels a little tiny, I guess, but close enough not to annoy me.
Were I designing Drezen from scratch and had this map, I'd then go through and count ALL of the buildings and make an assumption of 5 people per building on average and multiply that by the number of buildings to get a rough population estimate of it. I have no idea if this maps to a number that's even close to what Drezen's population was once upon a time, or for that matter if we've ever said in print what Drezen's...
Thanks!
Feels like it should be larger, but I really appreciate the insight!
EDIT: to be clear, those mesurements are AWESOME! Far better than mine! Thank you, again!
E2: (also, I think it said it was a metropolis of, “tens of thousands” - I’m finding out exactly how many can fit into a small space by historical context, which is really interesting. Thanks again!)
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I was wondering how well known certain organizations are outside of their regions. For example, would the average citizen of Sandpoint recognize and respect an Aldori Swordlord, or do they just regard him/her as some mercenary? Does the general populace know of (and fear) Red Mantis assassins or are they oblivious to their existence?
It's different for every organization and every region. Aldori Swordlords, to take your example, are not well known in Sandpoint, but the Red Mantis is. Overall the Red Mantis is MUCH more well known, in part because they're scarier, and in part because they have a unique look.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And as for subdomains, I'd not do that either. I was not a fan of having "Arcane" and "Divine" as subdomains of magic in the first place, to be honest. I would have rather had different, more flavorful subdomains for Magic that didn't cleave so closely to the two established types of magic back then.
'Flavorful' like subdomains for particular Schools of magic, or some even cooler distinctions (magic that only affects the self, or magic related to time or dragons or alchemy)?
Actually, I could see either option being funky to do with the subdomains as written, which generally only swap out 3 to 4 of the spells, and of which various gods usually only have two, at most (whereas Nethys would likely have all eight if there were eight School of Magic subdomains)...
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
'Flavorful' like subdomains for particular Schools of magic, or some even cooler distinctions (magic that only affects the self, or magic related to time or dragons or alchemy)?
I'd try to stick to two subdomains, and try to come up with a new flavor for them. Two themes that didn't attach to schools or established classes, so that ANY type of spellcaster could be in theory represented by the magic. Maybe something like a category for those who have to learn magic and those who naturally use magic. Maybe something about Metamagic vs. something about dead magic. Dunno. That ship has mostly sailed at this point so I'm not too interested in putting much more thought into the topic; sorry!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. James Jacobs,
Pharasma hates undead and detests those who make them. Would she be accepting or at least neutral towards someone who summons them as opposed to creates them in order to have their destruction pull double duty towards other goals?
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. James Jacobs,
Pharasma hates undead and detests those who make them. Would she be accepting or at least neutral towards someone who summons them as opposed to creates them in order to have their destruction pull double duty towards other goals?
Nope, nor would her faithful be accepting of this.
Using a uranium rod from a power plant to smash up those who pollute the world with radiation won't stop the fact that your weapon is doing their job for them even as you fight them. Using undead to fight undead is likewise still encouraging some undead (your minions or conjured lackeys) to exist. Your'e still bad!
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hello James, thank you for your time :)
I was reading through the Gloomblade archetype and I fail to see anything regarding the ability (or the lack of) to give the Shadow Weapon to someone else.
It does say that if you create a second one (before level 7) he loses the previous. But what happens if I create a +1 Shadow Bastard Sword (given that I am proficient) and give it to my Barbarian for example?
My logic says that it should disappear since it's not a material creation exactly, however I can't find anything written that sets a rule about it.
What do you think on that?
My take is a gloomblade is yours, not someone else's, and you shouldn't be able to give it to someone else. That's not the point of the archetype as far as I remember. If you wanna make weapons for others, focus instead on item crafting.
Hello James!
I’m trying to figure out which demon lord or god or archdevil hates children the most.
I’m trying ro create an adventure where the mothers are actively trying to damage children, mostly psychologically
Who would these mothers worship? Who is the demon lord / devil / god of bad parenthood? Of mothers who are emotionally blackmailing their children?
I was thinking Mestama, or Gyronna. Is there a better fit?
Thanks!
|
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hello James!
I’m trying to figure out which demon lord or god or archdevil hates children the most.
I’m trying ro create an adventure where the mothers are actively trying to damage children, mostly psychologically
Who would these mothers worship? Who is the demon lord / devil / god of bad parenthood? Of mothers who are emotionally blackmailing their children?
I was thinking Mestama, or Gyronna. Is there a better fit?
Thanks!
That's something you'll need to decide on your own. Not gonna discuss topics about child endangerment here; sorry. Other than to suggest you have ALL of your players' consent and buy-in before you think about running an adventure with those sorts of themes.
|
Is/was Ninshabur supposed to be Golarion's resident 'Ancient Mesopotamia'-analog?Yes.
Nifty! Any idea if we expect more of/about Ninshabur, particularly character options?
I'd love, for example, an archetype for one of the mage-classes that was supposed to be a Ninshaburian star-priest.
Also, does that mean that, properly speaking, Lamashtu ought to be pegged as a Ninshaburian, rather than Osirian (as she was in the Inner Sea World Guide), goddess?
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Is/was Ninshabur supposed to be Golarion's resident 'Ancient Mesopotamia'-analog?Yes.Nifty! Any idea if we expect more of/about Ninshabur, particularly character options?
I'd love, for example, an archetype for one of the mage-classes that was supposed to be a Ninshaburian star-priest.
Also, does that mean that, properly speaking, Lamashtu ought to be pegged as a Ninshaburian, rather than Osirian (as she was in the Inner Sea World Guide), goddess?
Ninshabur's more of a GM thing than a player thing for now. In my original outline for the Strange Aeons Adventure Path, there was a fair amount of stuff from Ninshabur to be involved, but I'm not sure how much of that stayed in the final adventure as it was written and developed; it'd be mostly in part 5 of the adventure.
As for Lamashtu, she's worshiped all over the world, and is a demon, not an Osirion deity. If Inner Sea World Guide said differently it got that wrong, alas.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
? Inner Sea World guide doesn't say Lamashtu is Osirian(her nationality is listed as "Demon"), just that Osirion is one of her centers of worship along with Belkzen, Irrisen, Katapesh, Nex, River Kingdoms, Varisia and Worldwound...
....Wait a sec, Lamashtu has lots of cults in Nex? Umm I can understand others on that list, but that one surprises me. Does Nex have lot of gnolls or goblins or something?
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
? Inner Sea World guide doesn't say Lamashtu is Osirian(her nationality is listed as "Demon"), just that Osirion is one of her centers of worship along with Belkzen, Irrisen, Katapesh, Nex, River Kingdoms, Varisia and Worldwound...
....Wait a sec, Lamashtu has lots of cults in Nex? Umm I can understand others on that list, but that one surprises me. Does Nex have lot of gnolls or goblins or something?
Nex has lots of creepy fleshwarpers, aka monster-makers, aka Lamashtu-themed stuff.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Here's something I can't seem to find an answer to - what the lifespan of the Geniekin races is supposed to be on Golarion? Most people I ask seem to think it's the same as post-errata Aasimars and Tieflings. Except of course that Ifrits, Undines, Oreads and Sylphs were not mentioned in the ARG errata. The matter is further confused by Sulis, who in the ARG have a different lifespan than both the Aasimars/Tieflings and the rest of the elemental planetouched.
A related question - if the Geniekin really do live for hundreds of years, how does that interact with the "Mostly Human" alternate racial trait? It's kind of hard not to realize you're not human if it took you four times as long as your supposed peers to reach adulthood.
|
Creative Director
|
Here's something I can't seem to find an answer to - what the lifespan of the Geniekin races is supposed to be on Golarion? Most people I ask seem to think it's the same as post-errata Aasimars and Tieflings. Except of course that Ifrits, Undines, Oreads and Sylphs were not mentioned in the ARG errata. The matter is further confused by Sulis, who in the ARG have a different lifespan than both the Aasimars/Tieflings and the rest of the elemental planetouched.
A related question - if the Geniekin really do live for hundreds of years, how does that interact with the "Mostly Human" alternate racial trait? It's kind of hard not to realize you're not human if it took you four times as long as your supposed peers to reach adulthood.
All of the planar scion races are the same in aging, be they tieflings or genikin or aasimars or whatever. Fortunately, with the upcoming edition change, we'll be able to fix that.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dear James Jacobs,
While I, as a GM, can be the final arbiter of my own plots, I was curious how logically consistent it would be for a Apostate/Deimavigga devil to corrupt a Shinigami to help him subvert souls for Hell?
Also where do Shinigami actually reside? In the Boneyard or somewhere else?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. James Jacobs,
Would Shelyn and her priesthood look favorably upon someone who, while not having musical ability themselves, travels gathering songs and then later publishes them with full lyrics and notes so others may enjoy them? Would this considered a worthy endeavor?
I would imagine yes, but I thought to ask as they are not actually creating any of the songs.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So I noticed in the 2nd Edition playtest, it says elves reach physical maturity comparable to humans. How does this affect how Forlorn elves are handled? I mean, it could simply be years of me misinterpreting the lore but from what I understood a big part of the Forlorn attitude came from quite literally taking decades to properly physically mature, basically watching friends and associates grow old and probably die while you were still functionally an adolescent.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Is Calistria more of a "sex goddess" than Nocticula now or are the two goddesses about the same? Surprisingly, Nocticula doesn't have charm or lust in her portfolio anymore...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
what are you working on right now?
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Dear James Jacobs,
While I, as a GM, can be the final arbiter of my own plots, I was curious how logically consistent it would be for a Apostate/Deimavigga devil to corrupt a Shinigami to help him subvert souls for Hell?
Also where do Shinigami actually reside? In the Boneyard or somewhere else?
A devil corrupting a shinigami sounds like a cool storyline. AKA: perfectly logically consistent.
Shinigami reside in the Boneyard.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. James Jacobs,
Would Shelyn and her priesthood look favorably upon someone who, while not having musical ability themselves, travels gathering songs and then later publishes them with full lyrics and notes so others may enjoy them? Would this considered a worthy endeavor?
I would imagine yes, but I thought to ask as they are not actually creating any of the songs.
They should, if they're being devout and following the teachings of the faith, but I suspect that there's a certain number of worshipers who aren't who let pride get in the way and don't support such eager would-be artists.
Shelyn herself absolutely looks favorably upon all who seek to create art, whether or not they happen to be any good at it. She wouldn't be a fan of plagiarism though, so if those republishers of music don't give proper credit to the original artists, they'd end up in Hell or something like that for being bad worshipers.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
So I noticed in the 2nd Edition playtest, it says elves reach physical maturity comparable to humans. How does this affect how Forlorn elves are handled? I mean, it could simply be years of me misinterpreting the lore but from what I understood a big part of the Forlorn attitude came from quite literally taking decades to properly physically mature, basically watching friends and associates grow old and probably die while you were still functionally an adolescent.
Doesn't change a thing.
It just means that elves don't have a century-long childhood. In 2nd edition, all the core races reach adulthood at about the same time, so you don't have a weird disconnect that D&D and Pathfidner both have always had in the "Elves are super smart, but it takes them ten times as long to become adults as humans do," which is logically confusing and fights against what they're supposed to be.
You don't HAVE to play a 20 year old elf as a first level PC, any more than you HAVE to play a 20 year old human. You could play a 30 year old human just as easilly, or a 130 year old elf.
If you wanna play a forlorn elf, the only thing there is that you've lived long enough to see your childhood friends grow up and grow old and die. A starting forlorn elf might be as young as 60 or so, which in "human years" would equate to the low 20s. The thing with the forlorn has nothing to do with how long it takes them to reach adulthood, and everything to do with becoming an adult with non-elf friends and then watching as they grow old and die while you remain young.
If this happened to us humans, imagine having best friends from childhood through elementary school and high school. Then, after graduating high school, you stayed friends, but over the next 60 years, all your friends grew old and died of old age, while you stayed young and (compared to the others) at an age in the low 20s.
|
Creative Director
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Is Calistria more of a "sex goddess" than Nocticula now or are the two goddesses about the same? Surprisingly, Nocticula doesn't have charm or lust in her portfolio anymore...
How much a deity is full-on "sex deity" in your game is up to you. That's not a role we focus obsessively on.
Calistria is the primary deity associated with sex and always has been in the core 20, but she's equally split in theme there between lust (which isn't always specifically about sex), trickery, and revenge. You can't say she's a "sex goddess" any more than you can say she's a "joke-cracking goddess" or an "unforgiving goddess," in other words.
Nocticula isn't in the core 20, and in her role as a new deity, she's more about artists and protecting/supporting exiles (including marginalized folks) and enjoying the night (aka; the night is not always full of terrors, and enjoying the night doesn't mean you're evil). Nocticula is not chaste these days by any stretch of the imagination, but her sexuality and acceptance of sex is not a defining quality of her character as it was when she was a demon lord.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Nocticula isn't in the core 20, and in her role as a new deity, she's more about artists and protecting/supporting exiles (including marginalized folks) and enjoying the night (aka; the night is not always full of terrors, and enjoying the night doesn't mean you're evil). Nocticula is not chaste these days by any stretch of the imagination, but her sexuality and acceptance of sex is not a defining quality of her character as it was when she was a demon lord.
I presume the bolded section means she'll be getting along with Desna?
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Nocticula isn't in the core 20, and in her role as a new deity, she's more about artists and protecting/supporting exiles (including marginalized folks) and enjoying the night (aka; the night is not always full of terrors, and enjoying the night doesn't mean you're evil). Nocticula is not chaste these days by any stretch of the imagination, but her sexuality and acceptance of sex is not a defining quality of her character as it was when she was a demon lord.I presume the bolded section means she'll be getting along with Desna?
Not all the time, but some of the time. Desna is super friendly though, and she'd probably get frustrated with Nocticula's snark and attitude and such, in a CG vs CN sort of way.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Speaking of Nocticula getting along with other goddesses, how well does she get along with Calistria or Arshea?
Hey James! Huge fan of your work! I am trying to make a homebrew class and i want your opinion on it if that is ok?
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Which of the Golarion Powers would be most analogous to The Red Knight from the FORGOTTEN REALMS pantheon?
What about Hoar (who, from a Golarion perspective, might seem sort of like an unlikely midpoint between Iomedae and Calistria)?
Red Knight: Iomedae, I guess.
Hoar: Dunno, I gues Groetus.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Speaking of Nocticula getting along with other goddesses, how well does she get along with Calistria or Arshea?
She has a friendly rivalry with Calistria. Sometimes they're into each other, sometimes they're enemies. Back and forth.
She and Arshea don't really interact much at all, despite having some thematic similarities. They're kinda different sides of the same coin.
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
How would an Lawful Neutral follower of Achaekek operate? I imagine they'd still take assassination jobs, but they'd be less gruesome? Or am I putting too much on it, and they'd be against assassinations and be more of a "bounty hunter".
I know Achaekek is one of your gods so I thought I would at least ask.
They'd still take assassination jobs but would be more discerning about which ones they accept, likely only taking ones that they felt warranted a death rather than just to make money, or because someone was angry or wanted someone dead out of spite or jealousy.
|
Creative Director
|
Hey James! Huge fan of your work! I am trying to make a homebrew class and i want your opinion on it if that is ok?
Thanks! And yeah, that's perfectly fine, I don't mind offering opinions and advice on game design. That's MUCH different than arguing with someone who seems more interested in the semantics of an argument than getting to a workable solution, which is what so many internet rules arguments seem to be focused on...
Hey James! Huge fan of your work! I am trying to make a homebrew class and i want your opinion on it if that is ok?Thanks! And yeah, that's perfectly fine, I don't mind offering opinions and advice on game design. That's MUCH different than arguing with someone who seems more interested in the semantics of an argument than getting to a workable solution, which is what so many internet rules arguments seem to be focused on...
I totally agree! So here is a little background on the class. I am in an evil game and we are trying to take over Golarion. I am a necromancer that probably will be providing much of the bodies needed for large scale combat. This class is 10 level prestige class focused on giving me those numbers. I tried giving it as much unique flavor as i could but i ended up borrowing a capstone ability from Agent of the grave, because i also want to try and ascend to lichdom. We are in this camapign for the long hall and if you could just shine some light on my design that would be great!! Also i find that it hard to describe things and naming things so please bare with me...
Ultimate Necromancer
Class Details
Progression:
Attack Bonus: Sorcerer
Saves: Sorcerer
Hit Die: d6
Requirements: To become an Ultimate Necromancer, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks.
Spells: Must be able to cast Animate Dead, Lesser or Animate Dead.
Class Skills
The Ultimate Necromancer’s class skills (and the key abilities for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the Ultimate Necromancer prestige class.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency:
Ultimate Necromancers gain no new proficiencies with any armour or weapons.
Spells per Day
When a Ultimate Necromancer gains a level, he gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spell casting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that he adds the level of Ultimate Necromancer to the level of whatever other spell casting class he has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly. If the character had more than one spell casting class before he became a Ultimate Necromancer, he must choose which class he adds each lord of the dead level to for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Channel Energy (Su)
At 1st level the Ultimate Necromancer gains the ability to channel energy as the Cleric class feature. If he had levels in Cleric, then the effects stack he you gain Extra Channel feat as a bonus feat. If he had the ability, but he was unable to heal or cause damage (Wizard Arcane School), then he would gain the ability to heal undead with this ability. For the Command Undead/ Turn Undead feats his caster level stacks for determining the effects. He can not use this ability to harm the living, and for the purposes of the amount healed, he treats his Ultimate Necromancer level as his effective cleric level. Example: A wizard 5/UN 5 would be able to heal undead for 3d6, and can use the Command Undead feat for caster level 10.
Necropolitan (Ex)
An Ultimate Necromancer gains a bonus equal to his Ultimate Necromancer level (minimum +1) on Diplomacy and Knowledge checks regarding undead creatures. Because of his obsessive focus on the undead, he takes a –2 penalty when attempting such checks regarding living creatures.
Secrets of Death (Ex)
At 2rd level and 2nd level thereafter, an Ultimate Necromancer gains new insights into the dark arts of necromancy. At the time he gains this ability, the character may add a necromancy spell that is not normally a part of his class’s spell list to his spell list. For example, an Ultimate Necromancer with levels of wizard might choose to add spells like death watch, inflict critical wounds, and slay living to his spell list, while an Ultimate Necromancer with levels of cleric might choose to add spells such as enervation, magic jar, and vampiric touch. An Ultimate Necromancer may choose to add spells he cannot yet cast—this does not allow the Ultimate Necromancer to cast spells of a higher level than he normally could, but rather merely grants him access to those spells when he reaches the level required to cast them.
Undead Manipulator (Ex)
At 2nd level, the Ultimate Necromancer gains great insight into the minds and necromantic forces controlling undead creatures. An Ultimate Necromancer’s spells and spell-like abilities with mind-affecting effects treat undead creatures as their original type. Thus, an Ultimate Necromancer can use charm person against a humanoid zombie or confusion against a horde of skeletal champions.
Undead Mastery:
All undead creatures created by a Ultimate Necromancer of at least 3rd level gain 1 additional hit point per Hit Die. In addition, the Ultimate Necromancer's limit for controlling creatures created by the Animate Dead, Lesser or Animate Dead spells increases by an amount equal to half of the spellcasting ability modifier (CHA for Bards, and Sorcerers, INT for Wizards and Magi, WIS for Cleric and Warpriests) possessed by the class before becoming an Ultimate Necromancer. This bonus also gets applied to the previous class that the Ultimate Necromancer belonged to before.(Example: A cleric 5/Ultimate Necromancer 3 with a wisdom of 16 would be able to control 4+1(half of 3 rounded down)HD/caster level=40HD.) Enhancing undead in this manner can not stack with the effects of the Desecrate Spell, except of doubling the HD limit for a single casting of Animate Dead, lesser and Animate Dead.
At 5th level this bonus increases to +4 Strength and Dexterity, and the Ultimate Necromancer adds his entire spellcasting ability modifier to each caster level of her control limit instead of half.
At 7th level this bonus increases to +2 hit points per HD and the Ultimate Necromancer adds 1.5 times her spellcasting ability modifier to the number of HD of undead per caster level that she can control.
At 9th level this bonus increases to +6 Strength and Dexterity, and the Ultimate Necromancer adds twice her spellcasting modifier to the number of HD of undead per caster level that she can control.
Spawn Mastery (Su)
At 4th level, whenever a Ultimate Necromancer would create a free-willed undead, that undead is instead under the Ultimate Necromancer’s control. A Ultimate Necromancer can control up to 4 HD of undead per Ultimate Necromancer level in this manner. This ability is also augmented by the Undead Mastery feature. Excess undead are free-willed unless previously controlled undead are released.
Forbidden Friends (Ex)
The Ultimate Necromancer’s influence over the undead goes beyond magical. It is almost instinctual to search for these creature to even have a normal conversation. Upon attaining this ability at 6th level he gains a bonus to your Leadership score equal to his Ultimate Necromancer level. This bonus only helps with attaining minions, and not for getting a more powerful cohort and is stackable with items, feats, class features, and traits that help boost his Leadership score.
Dark Ally (Ex)
The Ultimate Necromancer’s relationship with the undead so well founded that more powerful undead are willing to come to his cause. At 8th level the Ultimate Necromancer gains an undead cohort that is 1 CR below his total CR.
Undeath Initiate (Ex)
At 10th level, an Ultimate Necromancer has prepared his body and mind for the transition into undeath. He gains a +5 bonus on any ability check, skill check, or saving throw related to the process of transforming into an undead creature. This bonus can be used on any check related to becoming a creature like a lich (the process of which is largely left up to the GM’s discretion). Additionally, if slain by an undead creature with the create spawn ability, the agent of death retains his Intelligence (regardless of the type of undead he is transformed into) and free will (he is never under the control of the creature that killed him). Unless otherwise noted by the undead creature’s create spawn ability, the newly created undead Ultimate Necromancer loses all of his class levels. This makes transformation into a lich and vampire among the most appealing options for an Ultimate Necromancer seeking undeath.